Three Kansas hospital patients linked with hep C outbreak

Wednesday

Aug 29, 2012 at 3:15 AM

From Wire and Staff Reports

KANSAS — Three patients treated at a northwest Kansas hospital in 2010 have tested positive for a strain of hepatitis C "closely related" to a cluster of cases in New Hampshire traced to a traveling hospital technician.

Kansas officials notified more than 400 people last month that they may have been exposed to hepatitis C by a technician who worked at the Hays Medical Center's cardiac catheterization lab from May 24 to Sept. 22, 2010.

The technician, David Kwiatkowski, is accused of causing an outbreak of the disease at Exeter Hospital. Authorities believe he stole anesthetic drugs from a hospital lab, injected himself and contaminated syringes that were later used on patients.

To date, Kwiatkowski and 32 former Exeter Hospital patients have been linked with the outbreak. New Hampshire health officials are in the process of testing an additional 3,300 patients who were treated in areas where Kwiatkowski was granted limited access.

Kwiatkowski's arrest touched off a widespread investigation into his employment history, which includes stints in at least 19 hospitals in eight states. He was fired from at least two of those hospitals.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Tuesday that 375 former Hays Medical patients had submitted blood for testing as of Aug. 27. Of that number, 353 were negative for hepatitis C. Tests on the others are pending. Another 58 patients could not be tested because they are already deceased.

The Kansas agency said only patients who underwent cardiac catheterization procedures while Kwiatkowski worked at Hays Medical Center were potentially put at risk. KDHE officials are contacting patients who have not been tested by the agency to ask if they have been tested elsewhere.

Federal charges filed in New Hampshire accuse Kwiatkowski of stealing anesthetic drugs from the cardiac catheterization lab where he worked, injecting himself and contaminating syringes that were later used on patients, 31 of whom have been diagnosed with the same strain of hepatitis C that Kwiatkowski carries.

Although he told investigators he was diagnosed in May, authorities said there is evidence that Kwiatkowski has had the disease since at least June 2010.

Samples from patients who test positive for hepatitis C are being sent to the New Hampshire Public Health Laboratory for further diagnostic testing, according to an Aug. 10 statement from KDHE. The public health lab and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are conducting additional tests to help make comparisons between the strain from the patients and the cluster of patients in New Hampshire.